ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army lodged a formal protest on Friday to “allied forces” in Afghanistan over a suspected US missile strike this week that killed 14 people in Bajaur Agency.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said Pakistan concluded that Wednesday’s attack on a house in Damadola village was launched by drones from Afghanistan.

Abbas said a formal protest was lodged on Friday with “allied forces” in Afghanistan, an apparent reference to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force that is fighting the Taliban-led insurgency there.

The US is among the nations contributing to Isaf. Abbas said 14 people died in the attack. It was unclear if any foreign militants were killed because local tribesmen had sealed off the area in the aftermath and buried the victims, he said.

It was the first such strike since Pakistan’s new civilian government took power six weeks ago. The government’s response so far has been low-key, suggesting it may be extending the kind of cooperation to the US-led fight against al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, US officials in Washington said the Predator strike on Wednesday killed a handful of al-Qaeda militants, including one they described as a “significant leader”. The strike indicated that the CIA retained some freedom to operate in the tribal areas. But as the gap between Pakistani and American policies widens, United States officials are pushing harder for still more latitude, reported the New York Times.

According to the Times, the officials are making it increasingly clear that they have no interest in stopping cross-border attacks by militants into Afghanistan, prompting a new level of frustration from Americans who see the infiltration as a crucial strategic priority in the war in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday night, the United States fired its fourth Predator missile strike since January, the most visible symbol of the American push for a freer hand to pursue militants from al-Qaeda and the Taliban who US officials say use Pakistan’s tribal areas as a base to attack Afghanistan and plot terrorist attacks abroad.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=14739

To quote Hulk Hogan; "whatcha gonna do?"

We have withrawn from the area, its not ours anymore. Its between the Taliban and the Americans now.

Sit on our backsides and complain I guess , thats what we gonna do.

Its time pak army started building remote controlled IEDs to protect its borders. A good opportunity for us to test our jf17s too.